It was officially announced this past week that Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey and #1 contender Sarah Kaufman will duke it out in the cage Aug. 18 in San Diego. For months, however, the two were already preparing for war. What has been interesting is that both fighters have traveled to two of the best gyms to prepare.
Rousey has been training with Cesaer Gracie and the Diaz brothers in Stockton, CA; which has been documented by MiddleEasy.com. The camp makes a lot of sense with the personality and fighting style of Rousey, who needs to improve her striking game. The Diaz brothers are some of the best strikers in the game and if Rousey’s plan A doesn’t work, she has boxing in her back pocket. Her main training camp is with Manny Gamburyan and Team Hayastan out of Hollywood, CA.
Kaufman, on the other hand, has made a trip to Albuquerque, NM to train with the Jackson/Winkeljohn team. This is nothing new to Kaufman, whose coach Adam Zugec has gained a relationship with the world famous gym. Although having a solid striking background, the former Stikreforce champ is looking for strategy against a fighter who has submitted opponents within the first round. Jackson is the mastermind behind many of the champion fighters in the UFC.
It should also be noted that Kaufman trained with another former champion, Cyborg Santos, in San Diego for a week before returning to Canada.
With the new knowledge and strategy, will Kaufman find the key to defeating Rousey; or will Rousey continue her dominance in the cage. We will all find out August 28.
I really hope sarah connects with some hard punches to rousey face and then we will see the same thing that happened to lesnar. Yrs and yrs of grappling does not help you get used to being hit. If tate would of been patient and tried to keep the fight standing maybe rousey would be gone. I dont buy into the bs that womens mma needs rousey, it doesnt need rousey. it is growing more and more everyday and more and more promoters in different countries are starting to promote women only cards. Look at invicta their first show was stacked and now their second show is stacked, so tell me dana how their isnt enough talent for a div in the ufc, because if invicta can find talent to put on stacked cards, im sure the ufc could find talent for a couple womens fights each card
Define “talent”.
“Everybody’s got plans… until they get hit.”
Mike Tyson
Sarah will win, she’s the complete fighter.
I think everyone is making a bigger deal out of this whole “Diaz connection” than there really is. For the Tate fight, the internet was buzzing about her training with Nick and Nate. In reality, they met ONCE at the Tapout Training Center in Vegas. Ronda is training for a couple of weeks in Stockton. That’s it. She hasn’t left Team Hayastan to become a new member of the Scrap Pack. It’s not like Cesar Gracie is going to corner her or anything. She’s just diversifying a bit, much like she did during her judo career.
I think we all know Ronda won’t be leaving her Karo anytime soon. But with how many times she has been to the 209 this year – she is gaining a lot of helpful training. That is the point of the article.
As far as I know, she’s been there twice (I believe she’s there now). The footage MiddleEasy has been posting has been, for the most part, from her first trip months ago. Spending a week here and a week there won’t make or break her game.
I think it helps her game in terms of striking. Not saying she is going to stop doing what she does, just have some more tools.
And what I’m saying is that the article (incorrectly) makes it sound like Ronda’s training more extensively with the Scrap Pack than is really the case.
I believe the sentence “Her main training camp is with Manny Gamburyan and Team Hayastan out of Hollywood, CA” covers that.
And yet the title of the article and the main thrust of the second paragraph is the Diaz involvement in Ronda’s training. The mention of Manny and Team Hayastan looks like a late addition “throw away” comment, at best.
Rousey her self has indicated the main purpose of “moving around” (to different training venues, camps, etc) is to prevent staleness and boredom in training. In this scenario, she left the strictly regimented (get up at 5 AM every day) routine of her usual (LA) camp for the more laid back approach in Ceaser Gracie’s gym. New training partners, new venue and new trainers help in keeping training interesting and the athlete motivated. To suggest she trained striking with Nick for 2 weeks and now she will somehow be able to trade punches with Kaufman is ludicrous. That would be akin to Kaufman training with Japanese national judo team for 2 weeks, and someone suggesting she can now hang with Rousey in the judo department. Two YEARS of serious judo training would not be enough for Kaufman to catch up with Rousey (in judo) let alone 2 weeks.